Alice in LogicalOperatorLand

Dedicated to younger siblings of UVA students who have knowledge of UVA's inside jokes

During one particularly boring day of summer internship, Annabelle took a break from work and went on SIS to review her course schedule for the Fall 2017 semester. She realized that she wanted to continue her studies in computer science after having taken CS 1110, but hadn’t enrolled in the next level computer science course. “I must research the CS classes so I can sign up,” Annabelle thought. Annabelle started trying to navigate SIS. Annabelle found herself confused. “Where is the search button? How do I select the correct term? What does it mean that there’s a ‘hold’ on my account? Why does SIS keep timing out?” she thought. Gradually, her head started spinning. The room kept going in and out of focus. The floor dropped out. Annabelle screamed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken a break! I’ll go back to work, I promise!” Annabelle crashed to the ground. Except she wasn’t back in her office. No, instead, Annabelle found herself trapped in a mysterious land called UVA. “Ahhh! My boss is going to kill me. If I get fired, I will never be successful again! I must get out of here!” Annabelle exclaimed. She looked around for an exit and saw a tiny door labelled “Computer Science”. “I’m too tall to get through that door!” she thought. Annabelle looked around some more. On a nifty standing desk, Annabelle saw a key and a Starbucks cup labeled NOT(Tall). Annabelle reasoned that since she was already tall, NOT(Tall) should turn her into the opposite of tall meaning that she would become shorter! Annabelle savored the Starbucks potion that just so happened to taste like pumpkin spice. Within seconds, she shrank small enough to fit through the door. On the other side of the door, Alice found herself in Garden 8 surrounded by a breed of animal called “Lawnies”. When she looked around, Annabelle realized they were all shivering. She tapped one on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, why is everyone shivering?” The Lawnie replied, “Because it rained this morning, and we are cold from walking to our outdoor restrooms without any umbrellas!” Theresa Sullivan happened to walk by. “Why doesn’t everyone run a Presidential race? I’ll organize it,” she suggested. The Lawnies agreed, excited by the prospect of getting dry. The race started at the top of the lawn. The Lawnies sprinted as fast as they could, but many go too fast and fall down the mini hills. When the Lawnies do reach the end, they see a banner with the words “TAUT(Runner)” above the finish line. Theresa Sullivan stands at a table handing everyone an official looking paper labelled “Degree”, no matter their finishing position. Annabelle realizes that so long as you run under the TAUT(Runner) sign, you receive a “Degree” paper, no matter if you actually won the race, or simply finished last. “That was fun”, thought Annabelle, “but I haven’t earned enough credits for a degree yet. I just want to enroll in CS2102! Where do I do that?!” Mango the Cat (an orange cat that doesn’t have an owner and wanders the Corner) called down from his position on top of Old Cabell. “There are two paths you can choose from. That path leads to the Department of Computer Science in Rice Hall. The other leads to Rugby Road where students go when they are tired of studying and want to have some fun. Be careful in choosing because you can only go down one path. If you don’t like the path you chose, it will be too late to change because you cannot go down both! Only one will help you successfully enroll in CS2102! The function XOR(Path) should help you choose.” Annabelle wisely chose to go down the Rice Hall path. “I can’t switch my decision later, so I better choose wisely now,” she thought. On her walk to Rice Hall, Annabelle encountered a dinner party outside of Newcomb. “Hello everyone! Am I on the right path to enrolling in CS 2102?” The Stressed Hatter approached. “I can only tell you if you answer my riddle questions! You must answer ALL of them!” “Fine, what are the questions?” Annabelle asked. The Stressed Hatter asked Annabelle to answer questions about the well-ordering principle, logical operators, structural induction, and infinite sets. Annabelle answered the first question AND the second question AND the third question AND the fourth question correctly. “I have answered all of your questions correctly! I have not given you a single false answer, and yet you still won’t tell me if I am on the right path to enrolling in CS 2102,” she argued. “I have more questions!” the Stressed Hatter exclaimed. “If you quit, that is the same as giving me an incorrect answer and I can only help you if all of your responses are true. Be careful, you are close to failing my AND(Question) test!” Annabelle accepted that the Stressed Hatter was not going to help her and continued towards Rice Hall. She approached an area called “Engineer’s Way” where a David Evans was playing a game of logical Trick-Or-Treat with his TAs. “How do I know that if I give you a treat, you won’t trick me anyway? Is my choice an OR or an XOR option?” Professor Evans could be overheard asking. “Excuse me!” Annabelle called out. “Is this where I enroll in CS2102?” “Hmmm, I’m not sure. What is your major?” Professor Evans asked. “I’m a pre-comm student, but I also like computer science! I love both!” “I don’t believe you! If you are a pre-comm student, this implies that you love computer science less than you love business! I can’t help you enroll in CS2102.” Evans looked angrily at Annabelle. “Professor Evans, your rule is not sound!” Annabelle pleaded. “It is true that I am interested in both majors, but your conclusion is false! I love both equally! I don’t like one more than the other!” “I am done with this conversation! I have research to do. TAs, lock her in Rice 436 and don’t let her out!” “No please, please!” Annabelle yelled. “I love computer science. Let me into the class! Please! Please…”Suddenly, Annabelle felt like her head was spinning again. Engineer’s Way blurred. “Annabelle, Annabelle! Are you ok?” Annabelle woke up to her boss standing above her. “Annabelle, you fainted. I think you’re stressed and should take a break” “No way! I’m not taking anymore breaks,” Annabelle responded. “I’ll enroll in CS2102 when I get home.” And Annabelle vowed never to take another break during work hours again.

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